description:

The Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg who had trained as a mechanical engineer, wrote
his PhD thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management analysing the actual work habits and
time management of chief executive officers (CEOs). In 1973, Mintzberg's thesis on the
nature of managerial work was adopted as a study and published for a wider audience.

Mintzberg's empirical research involved observing and analysing the activities of the CEOs
of five private and semi-public organisations. Previous management behaviour studies had
concentrated on team and subordinate behaviour or organisational structure rather than on the
day-to-day reality of managerial behaviour.

Mintzberg's 10 Managerial Roles

INTERPERSO Figurehead 1. the manager performs ceremonial and

NAL symbolic duties as head of the organisation

Performs ceremonial and symbolic duties

such as greeting visitors, signing legal
documents

Leader fosters a proper work atmosphere and motivates and

develops subordinates;

Direct and motivate subordinates, training,

counseling, and communicating with
subordinates

Liaison develops and maintains a network of external

contacts to gather information;

Maintain information links both inside and

outside organizaion; use mail, phone calls,
meetings

INFORMATIO Monitor 1. gathers internal and external information

NAL relevant to the organisation;

Seek and receive information, scan

periodicals and reports, maintain personal
contacts

Disseminat 1. transmits factual and value based

or information to subordinates;
 Forward information to other organization
members; send memos and reports, make
phone calls

Spokespers 1. communicates to the outside world on

on performance and policies.

Transmit information to outsiders through

speeches, reports, memos

DECISIONAL Entreprene 1. designs and initiates change in the

ur organisation;

Initiate improvement projects, identify new

ideas, delegate idea responsibility to others

Disturbance deals with unexpected events and operational

Handler breakdowns;

Take corrective action during disputes or

crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates;
adapt to environmental crises

Resource controls and authorises the use of organisational

Allocator resources;

Decide who gets resources, scheduling,

budgeting, setting priorities

Negotiator 1. participates in negotiation activities with

other organisations and individuals.

Represent department during negotiation of

union contracts, sales, purchases, budgets;
represent departmental interests
Mintzberg Managerial Roles

Mintzberg Managerial Roles

see this link: http://aqsblog.com/blog/index.php/management/mintzberg-managerial-roles-3

Interpersonal Roles

Figurehead:

Meaning: A person used as a cover for some questionable activity

Managers play the figure head role when they perform the duties which are ceremonial or
symbolic in nature. For example like greeting the clients or visitors, attending a function of
sub-ordinate, giving the greeting or merit certificates etc...

Liaison:

Meaning: A channel for communication between groups

Manager plays a liaison role by establishing contacts with people within the company and
also outside of the organization. By actively taking part in meetings with people of his
company and also with other organizations.

Leader:

Meaning: A person who rules or guides or inspires others

A manager can be a successful leader when he can have a good control over his sub-
ordinates. He constantly guides them and motivates them. Motivating the employees plays a
crucial part in becoming a successful manager.

Information Roles

Monitor:

Meaning: Check, track, or observe by means of a receiver

Receiving and communicating information is perhaps an important aspect of a manager. A

manager should have the sound knowledge of the job. Thus he should be always updating
himself with the latest information. The information can be gathered through various sources
through research or study.

Disseminator:

Meaning: Someone who spreads the news

He gives the useful information to his sub-ordinates. If the sub-ordinates have a sound
knowledge, then it's easy for them to understand the concepts.

Spokesperson:

Meaning: A person who represents someone else's policy or purpose

He is a spokesperson i.e. he should give a good representation of his team or organization.

Decisional Roles

Entrepreneur:

Meaning: Someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it

Manager should try to improve the unit. He should initiate plans and changes to adapt to the
environmental challenges.

Disturbance Handler:

He should be a good disturbance handler. He should be able to solve the problems aroused
because of strikes, internal conflicts etc...

Resources Allocator:

Manager is responsible for allocating human, physical and monitory resources.

Negotiator:

Manager negotiates with the other units or partners to gain advantage of his own unit.

The role played by a manager is a key point for the productivity of the team. He is the one
whom the team follows. So it’s important that he is the best example for them. The things
manager does, play an important role in team, so it’s important that a manager builds his
personality. Mintzberg roles are well categorized to make a start. I would like to discuss here
the Mintzberg roles of a manager.

This article is a part of my research on understanding Mintzberg roles.

According to Mintzberg, manager roles are divided to three categories. These three categories
are again divided into sub-categories.
 WEBSITE 2

description:

The Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg who had trained as a mechanical engineer, wrote
his PhD thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management analysing the actual work habits and
time management of chief executive officers (CEOs). In 1973, Mintzberg's thesis on the
nature of managerial work was adopted as a study and published for a wider audience.

Mintzberg's empirical research involved observing and analysing the activities of the CEOs
of five private and semi-public organisations. Previous management behaviour studies had
concentrated on team and subordinate behaviour or organisational structure rather than on the
day-to-day reality of managerial behaviour.

To describe the work life of a CEO, Mintzberg first identified six characteristics of the job:

1. Managers process large, open-ended workloads under tight time pressure - a

manager's job is never done.
2. Managerial activities are relatively short in duration, varied and fragmented and often
self-initiated.
3. CEOs prefer action and action driven activities and dislike mail and paperwork.
4. They prefer verbal communication through meetings and phone conversations.
5. They maintain relationships primarily with their subordinates and external parties and
least with their superiors.
6. Their involvement in the execution of the work is limited although they initiate many
of the decisions.
Mintzberg then identified ten separate roles in managerial work, each role defined as an
organised collection of behaviours belonging to an identifiable function or position. He
separated these roles into three subcategories: interpersonal contact (1, 2, 3), information
processing (4, 5, 6) and decision making (7-10).

2. FIGUREHEAD: the manager performs ceremonial and symbolic duties as head of the
organisation;
3. LEADER: fosters a proper work atmosphere and motivates and develops
subordinates;
4. LIASION: develops and maintains a network of external contacts to gather
information;
5. MONITOR: gathers internal and external information relevant to the organisation;
6. DISSEMINATOR: transmits factual and value based information to subordinates;
7. SPOKESPERSON: communicates to the outside world on performance and policies.
8. ENTREPRENEUR: designs and initiates change in the organisation;
9. DISTURBANCE HANDLER: deals with unexpected events and operational
breakdowns;
10. RESOURCE ALLOCATOR: controls and authorises the use of organisational
resources;
11. NEGOTIATOR: participates in negotiation activities with other organisations and
individuals.

Mintzberg next analysed individual manager's use and mix of the ten roles according to the
six work related characteristics. He identified four clusters of independent variables: external,
function related, individual and situational. He concluded that eight role combinations were
'natural' configurations of the job:

1. contact manager -- figurehead and liaison

2. political manager -- spokesperson and negotiator
3. entrepreneur -- entrepreneur and negotiator
4. insider -- resource allocator
5. real-time manager -- disturbance handler
6. team manager -- leader
7. expert manager -- monitor and spokesperson
8. new manager -- liaison and monitor

Mintzberg's study on the 'nature of managerial work' exposed many managerial myths
requiring change such as replacing the aura of reflective strategists carefully planning their
firm's next move with one of fallible humans who are continuously interrupted. Indeed, half
of the managerial activities studied lasted less than nine minutes. Mintzberg also found that
although individual capabilities influence the implementation of a role, it is the organisation
that determines the need for a particular role, addressing the common belief that it
predominantly a manager's skill set that determines success. Effective managers develop
protocols for action given their job description and personal preference, and match these with
the situation at hand.

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managerial roles

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managerial types

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pros:

The reality of management is that 'the pressures of the job drive the manager to take on too
much work, encourage interruption, respond to every stimulus, seek the tangible and avoid
the abstract, make decisions in small increments'. Mintzberg's key contribution was to
highlight the importance of understanding CEOs' time management and tasks in order to be
able to improve their work and develop their skills appropriately.

The most valued theoretical contribution was Mintzberg's role typology. Its validity was
demonstrated in consecutive studies and thus created a common language. His contingency
model linking management types to roles was less valuable.
Mintzberg's aim was to observe unbiased managerial behaviour and analyse it through
empirical research. Before his research, the normative frameworks produced by Fayol's
'administrative management'and Gulick's POSDCORB were dominant. Mintzberg's role
typology 'debunked' these normative systems.

cons:

Mintzberg does not assume ex-ante what an (in)effective or (non)successful manager entails.
He also neglects the relationship between managerial behaviour and organisational
effectiveness.

Furthermore, he takes a 'neutral' position on the managerial role omitting influences such as
ownership and power. Identified contingency factors explain differences in the make-up of
managerial work.

The empirical study is based on five organisations in action. The small sample size means
that the results should not be applied to all industry, organisations or management positions.

In his 1973 study, Mintzberg declared that the manager's position is always the starting point
in organisational analysis. He also argued that managerial roles are sequential - a manager
first makes interpersonal contact through his formal status which in turn allows information
processing and leads to decision making. Mintzberg later rejected this relationship based on
new empirical data.

references:

Mintzberg's personal web site

• Canada

The Manager's Job - Folklore and Fact

• Henry Mintzberg
• 1990
• Harvard Business Review
• United States
• ISBN B0000YHO3W
The Nature of Managerial Work

• Henry Mintzberg
• 1973
• HarperCollins
• United States
• ISBN 9780060445560